


Simulate

by Sorrowcult



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Artificial Intelligence, Drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 10:19:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15993182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorrowcult/pseuds/Sorrowcult
Summary: Eiji uncovers the hardships of being a scientist.





	Simulate

Being a scientist was harder than Eiji Okumura would like to admit, and many experiments and hypotheses led to dead ends and nights spent in a lab crying and then hoping your tears didn't contaminate anything. Recently though, a creation called "A1985" was brought into existence, an AI that looked exactly like that of a real human.

  
It was interesting, to say the least.

  
He's never seen the AI but he's heard from many that he's unfairly beautiful. He was created as a way to help victims of trauma, his programming one that Eiji had a hard time even glancing at.

  
_"He's not really human.."_

  
It was the dismissive nature that often hurt him, so when a piece of paper was shoved into his hand and he told he'd have to take care of him for a month, it was a shock.

  
"You can just turn him off for a month and make sure his wires don't mess up and you'll be fine." His higher up told him and directed him to the room where the AI was.

  
He knocked on the door, a habit but heard a muffled "come in", he assumed it was from another scientist but when he opened the door, it was like walking into a bedroom.

  
There was a boy with blond hair on the windowsill, thin with wiry muscle that could be seen beneath his white shirt and his ripped jeans.

  
He looked over and raised an eyebrow. He didn't blink, seeming to be assessing and analyzing Eiji.

"Nice to meet you, I'm A1985, otherwise known as Ash."

  
His voice wasn't what Eiji expected, slight husky but light. He hopped down and walked towards Eiji, green eyes bright and observant. He looked so human, so startling human that Eiji nearly reached out to see if he would be warm to the touch.

  
"Hello, Ash, I'm Okumura Eiji."  
Ash nodded and stared at him.

"Would you rather I call you by your first or surname?"

  
"First name is completely fine."

  
"Okay, Eiji, is there something you want me for?"

  
"Yes, you'll be living with me for a month or so."

  
Ash looked away and nodded, looking back at Eiji. "Okay."  
-  
The first day Ash was back at Eiji's penthouse apartment, he'd looked over Manhattan through the window but Eiji would never know if he was able to understand the beauty of the city lights. Currently Ash was "sleeping" in the guest room, curled up under the covers like a child.

  
Eiji was back in his own bedroom, reading over a list he'd been given, they were Ash's triggers.   
He quietly read them aloud to himself. "Do not approach from behind, do not touch on shoulders, do not lock in rooms.." He went quiet and placed his head in his hands. He was supposed to look over Ash's file to know exactly what he went through, what sick simulation and series of numbers had been ran but the entire project was so indifferent that he often would have to pretend it didn't exist.

  
That night it was hard for Eiji to sleep.  
-  
Turns out, Ash could eat.   
It was interesting to watch, the way he would hold the chopsticks and slowly eat while reading a newspaper.

  
He almost seemed human.

  
Almost.

  
"Ash," Green eyes peered up at him from over top of the newspaper.

  
"We have to go shopping for clothes and such for you."

  
The entire point of Eiji having Ash was to allow him to get a feel of the real world, through the eyes of a trauma victim so that they could collect the data and better understand.

  
Eiji wasn't sure why they couldn't just give surveys.

  
"Okay."  
-  
There were many stares, and that was because Ash was unearthly in his beauty. He took notice and Eiji swore he was uncomfortable.  
He thought robots didn't have feelings, but that couldn't be true.   
He didn't understand but he did his best to make him comfortable.

  
Watching Ash choose clothes was almost relaxing, the way his fingers would trail over the fabric and he would look them over. His sense of fashion reminded Eiji of eighties street kids and summers spent fighting street wars.

  
He wasn't sure why, but he felt like Ash belonged in that time, with a real beating heart and a bunch of street kids backing him, from Chinatown to the Bronx.

  
"This is enough, we can go now."   
-  
"Where are we going now?" Ash asked as they climbed in the taxi, holding bags.

  
"We're going back to the apartment to drop this off but there's this really good restaurant down in Chinatown we can go to, if you'd like."  
"I've never been to Chinatown before."  
It was unspoken that Ash had scarcely left the facility he'd been created in, and Eiji's heart hurt for him.  
"I'll take you."  
-  
Chang Dai was a restaurant Eiji rarely came to, mostly because of the street gangs that lived around that area and the fact that even when Eiji tried to blend in, it didn't really work.

  
He's been told his eyes looked too innocent.

  
"Yo, Okumura!"

  
Eiji looked up through his purple tinted shades and tilted his head. He was wearing a floral shirt that was tied at the waist and hanging off his shoulders, shorts that came a little above mid-thigh and black low tops. He'd had Ash change to a muscle tee tucked into a pair of black, ripped pants.   
He constantly gave off that eighties look, he made it work and go together so well.

  
"Lao?"

  
"Who's the kid?"

  
Ash was looking between the two of them, quiet. It was so hard to forget he was made of plastic and metal and assume he was flesh and blood.

  
"This is my friend, Ash. He's never been to Chinatown before and I was taking him down to Chang Dai."

  
"Is that so?"

  
Down here in Chinatown, they were wary of outsiders, especially outsiders who were white.   
Ash nodded and leveled Lao with a cold gaze. Lao smiled a little and patted Eiji on the shoulder.  
"Sure thing, bobtail. Go on." He winked and they both walked away, feeling eyes on them lessen.

  
If they'd gotten past Lao, they had a free pass for the time being.

  
"Eiji! You're back, and with a friend too." It was Nadia, smiling at him softly. She was one of the few who knew about Eiji's job and Ash, as well, after nights of talking over bottles of wine.

  
"Yep! His name is Ash."

  
"Eiji has friends?" A cheerful voice butted in and Eiji turned around to face the chest of his best friend, Shorter. He'd met him when he first moved to New York two years ago.

  
The taller of them smiled down at him. He pulled Eiji into a hug and squeezed him tightly before letting go and taking a step back, looking at Ash. "Nice to meet ya, man." He greeted and Ash smiled, waving slightly. "Nice to meet you too."

  
Eiji wasn't sure how Ash was programmed to speak the way he did. He responded well to questions and dates and places, it was easy to assume that he had been programmed to immediately search them up but even then, it didn't make enough sense.   
"He's new here." Nadia looked a little sad when he watched Ash flinch away from someone who brushed against him, looking at Eiji curiously.

  
He felt like a villain.  
-  
Ash could dream.

  
In actuality, all of Ash's dreams were simulated and preprogrammed about whatever was on his coding but hearing him cry out in his sleep for help was enough to have Eiji waking him up and giving him cups of warm milk.

  
"There.." Ash's eyes were red rimmed and Eiji once again could have swore he was human.  
-  
"Eiji. Can you help-help-help me?"

  
Eiji jumped at the sound of the glitch and he looked at Ash, who looked miserable. He almost appeared to be sick.

  
"My w-wires are messed up."  
Eiji couldn't tell if it was cute or not but he stood up and walked over, gently leading Ash to the couch. He tapped a pattern into the back of Ash's neck and it glowed before a panel slid away, seamlessly. Some of the wires had somehow crossed and Eiji was gentle as he began to untangle them.

  
He brushed a green wire and Ash laughed quietly, scaring Eiji and making him roughly bump a pink one.

  
Ash moaned.

  
They both went tense before Eiji simply fixed his wires and they didn't talk about it at all.  
-  
"Two week update. Ash shows signs of growth, wanting to go outside more and not flinching when approached from behind. He now asks for help and talks out his problems."  
-  
His time with Ash was nearly up, but he didn't understand how it had gone by so fast. He found himself watching Ash after he'd fallen asleep on the couch and he wanted to cry because it had taken two weeks for Ash to even fall asleep in Eiji's vicinity and now he even hugged Eiji when he wanted or was prompted.  
He thought robots weren't supposed to feel.  
-  
Ash cried when Eiji told him he'd have to return to the facility soon.  
"I don't want to go back, I hate it there."

  
Hate.  
Hate was an emotion and Ash wasn't supposed to have any.

"Please, Eiji."  
How did he say no?  
-  
The drive to the facility was quiet and Eiji felt that Ash was mad at him. "Ash.. I'm sorry."

  
"It's alright. It's your job. You had no choi-"

  
"But I do! I do have a choice and I'm making you go back to a place where they poke and prod at you."

  
Silence filled the car again.  
-  
"Eiji, the board wants to see you."  
Oh shit.  
-  
"Eiji Okumura, as we look over your progress with Ash I can see.. That he's gotten further with you than anyone else. Did you know that he began exhibiting self destructive behaviour after he left your care? He's showing signs of things he hasn't been programmed with. In other words, Mr. Okumura, he's evolving."   
-  
Ash was back in Eiji's care and they could only hug, only close their eyes and will this time to be longer than a month. 


End file.
